User Names To protect your privacy, please do not use your real name as your user name (nickname). Using your e-mail address, telephone number, or instant messenger identification/name as your user name is not allowed. You may not place the letters "OP" after your user name. Additionally, user names are subject to change if they are deemed to be inappropriate or a distraction. No one may use any symbols in user names.

Because We Care

Our message boards are moderated seven days a week by our volunteers. We remove inappropriate posts that do not follow our mission or guidelines, otherwise, all posts are made public after review.

Our chats, including person-to-person side chats, are all recorded and reviewed as well. We also provide hosted chats every day so our staff can be there to help answer questions and direct people to places to find answers they seek.

Knowing all this, if you use one of our interactive areas, you are responsible for your communications and the consequences if you post inappropriate information. We take every complaint seriously and follow-up on each one.

If you have any concerns or questions, please e-mail us at boardmoderators@msworld.org about the message boards and email us at helpwithchat@msworld.org about chat. We are here to help you.

Members who do not heed warnings to improve and change their communications, will lose the privilege of using the message boards and chat. This is always the last thing we want to do and will work with you to help you understand our mission and guidelines.

However, we do reserve the right to permanently remove membership when someone fails to work with us. We do this to members as a last resort to provide the safety our members' needs.

To Thine Own Self Be True (and careful)

In this Cyber age, we all need to work to keep our identity safe. To that end, please do not post or give out your phone number, address and other identifying information on message board posts or in chat. If you feel it is safe to do so, you can talk to someone privately in chat and give them your information.  

Please do not put this information in your public profile. This is for your own protection. We strongly recommend that you use a nickname and not your real name when registering to protect your privacy.

Guidelines to Post on Message Boards or Talk in Chat Rooms:

1. GOLDEN RULE: Treat others in chat, on the message boards, and e-mails as you want to be treated. We’re sure that means you don’t like personal attacks or remarks that are cruel and unnecessary.

We value respect for others at all times. Any comments made with intent to harm in any way, will be deleted before they are posted and people will be warned if said on chat. Remember, our chats are recorded and all transcripts are reviewed.

Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. You may disagree with that person, but you may not attack them or harass him/her based on that opinion. For example, you may say that someone's idea or opinion is ridiculous, but you may not call that person ridiculous for saying it.

Also, any chatter who exhibits repeat negative behavior and ignores warning letters will be blocked from using our chat room service.

2. IN THE SAME LIGHT: arguing about politics and religion is prohibited. Discussion and disagreeing is allowed. Moderators and Chat Hosts have the authority to determine when the discussion has turned to negative argument(s) and will take the appropriate actions to stop and/or redirect the conversation.

3. PREJUDICIAL REMARKS: Using prejudicial statements, comments, or remarks relating to racial or ethnic background, religion, sex, or sexual orientation in chat or on the message board is strictly prohibited.

4. PERSONAL INFORMATION: Do not post or share in chat your personal e-mail addresses, phone numbers, addresses, or instant messenger identifications/names. They may be placed in your profile at your own risk. If you decide to share this information with another person in chat, use the private message option; again, at your own risk.

5. URLs or WEB SITES: Message boards do not have active hyperlinks so someone cannot click on a Web site and go directly to that site. Therefore, we allow posting website addresses of reputable medical, professional, news, and government sources. Cutting and pasting information from another site is not allowed. Please place the Web address in your profile to direct users to this information.

6. CLEAN IT UP, WE’RE G-RATED: Use of profanity/cursing/pornographic/sexual references in any language is not permitted or related Websites won’t be tolerated in chat or on the message boards. Hinting at profanity is also prohibited. Descriptive sexual conversation which has nothing to do with MS is prohibited. This guideline's application includes, but is not limited to, avatars, photos, user names, and user titles.

7. SELLING ITEMS AND SOLICITING MEMBERS: Posting or offering items for sale is not allowed. Sales solicitations of members by way of e-mail, message board posts, or in private chats are also not allowed.

8. PRESCRIPTION ITEMS: If the prescription was written for you, that is where it stays! It is illegal to transfer prescription items such as medication or devices for injecting medication to someone other than the person for whom the prescription was written. MSWorld Members are not allowed to offer to give or sell prescription devices to another.

9. SURVEYS AND RESEARCH: If you have a survey or research information to share with our members, you must contact MSWorld Administration for permission to post. Posts will be approved or denied by the MSWorld administration team and must received authorization first or it will be removed immediately.

10. TREATMENT OPTIONS DISCUSSIONS (or “I Have a Cure For MS!”): We all have opinions about MS treatments and MSWorld supports these discussions. If the posts or chat conversation is misleading, misinformed, become solicitations, aggressive, or hurtful to others, posts will be removed and the chat member will be contacted and warned, and banned if they do not change behavior. Decisions to remove or not allow such discussion are made at the sole discretion of MSWorld staff.

11. MESSAGE BOARD DISCUSSION TOPICS: Our membership is large and diverse. Please consider this when you post a message on our boards. If the topic(s) are inappropriate, potentially harmful or aggressive, Administration reserves the right to close or remove any post that detracts from our mission and purpose. Administration's decision of what is appropriate is not open to discussion. If you are unsure whether or not a subject is appropriate for discussion, please e-mail us at boardmoderators@msworld.org

12. SOCIAL NETWORKING: While we hope that friendships will be made in our chat rooms and forums, the primary focus of MSWorld is the sharing of information and support concerning our lives with MS. We ask members to please use our CarePages®, or other personal sites for non-MS-related social sharing. These web addresses can be placed in your profile for friends to find. MSWorld takes no responsibility for your web page or those who visit.

13. COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL: This is a public forum but is protected by copyright laws. This means, simply, do not copy any part of a message and put it on another website or use them without asking permission from MSWorld or the author, to do so. Any person who disregards this rule may be subject to legal action. Just because this is a public forum does not mean that the content is in the public domain. 

MSWorld®, Inc. Disclaimer

MSWorld® Inc. Information contained on MSWorld's site or participation in support chats or the use of the message boards should not be considered a substitute for medical evaluation, psychotherapy, psychological services, mental health counseling, or treatment by a qualified health care professional.

Participation in services offered by MSWorld ®and use of our resources is by your own choice and is not intended to provide or confirm a diagnosis, nor is any claim made as to the therapeutic safety or effectiveness of any medications, tests, course of treatment, or the subjects of any other discussions.

MSWorld® is not engaged in the practice of psychotherapy. You are strongly urged to seek the advice of a qualified health care professional if you have a medical or mental health question or condition.

No attorney-client relationship will be formed by the act of you accessing this website or reviewing its contents. Nothing contained in this site shall constitute the giving or rendering of legal advice or be construed as a legal opinion, legal consultation, or guarantee of a particular outcome of a legal problem.

Information that is provided is general in nature, may not apply to your circumstances, and is provided as a public service. It is not a substitute for legal advice given by your attorney. Under no circumstances should you make a legal decision based upon information provided on MSWorld's website. You are strongly urged to seek legal advice through an attorney of your choice before you make any decision involving a legal matter.

MSWorld® and its volunteers assume no liability whatsoever for direct, indirect, special, or consequential damages relating in any way to the use of information provided on MSWorld's website.

MSWorld® does not endorse any of the sites to which it links and will not be responsible for any liability for direct, indirect, special, or consequential damages relating in any way to the use of linked sites.

MSWorld® and its volunteers make no representations, warranties (express or implied), or claims as to the validity, authenticity, quality, or viability of the consultation, advice, or services offered by the practitioners listed as other sources. MSWorld® and its volunteers do not make any representations regarding the content of, the effects of, or the participation in online discussion groups.

The information contained in or made available through MSWorld's website (including but not limited to chat, the message boards, or text files) is not intended or should not be construed to replace or substitute for the services of trained professionals in any field, including but not limited to financial, medical, or legal matters.

MSWorld®, its volunteers and affiliated organizations, or any of its or their respective licensors or suppliers make no representations or warranties (express or implied) concerning any treatment, action, or application of medication or preparation by or to any person following the information offered or provided within or through the MSWorld® website.

Neither MSWorld®, its volunteers, affiliates, or partners, or any of their affiliates will be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary, or other damages, including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death, which may result from the use of such information.

All transcripts recorded by MSWorld are the sole property of MSWorld® and may not be copied, reproduced, or printed in any form (electronic or otherwise) by anyone other than an authorized MSWorld Administrator.

If you are ever in a MSWorld® online chat or message board and have said something that you want omitted from the transcript or from the message boards, please e-mail us at msworld@msworld.org and request that your comments be omitted. Your comments will be edited from the MSWorld® transcript and to the best of our ability will not be made available to the public.

MSWorld® and its volunteers will not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary, or other damages that may occur as a result of the publication of something you have made public in an online support group meeting, chat session, or on the message boards.

MSWorld®, Inc. Privacy Policy

As the official chat and message board of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, MSWorld® is very concerned about your privacy.

We will not ask your name, address, or phone number. During registration, we ask for your e-mail address, birth date, and place you live; which can be as general or specific as you like. (State or city/state or country.) Additional demographic information such as the country you live in, preferred language and gender are optional.

We only ask your age so that we can comply with COPPA regulations to protect those under 13 years of age and to send you a greeting on your birthday.

If you choose to be on our mailing list, we will still collect personal information that you share with us. We may retain this information for e-mailing our weekly MSWorld Express to provide you with the latest information.

We will occasionally e-mail our membership with upcoming guest speakers, breaking news, or urgent information in addition to the weekly newsletter.

You may be removed from our mailing list by sending an e-mail to msworld@msworld.org with a request for removal or by using the "Unsubscribe" option on our email newsletters.

Any information that you provide will never be shared with a third party or advertiser.

As a means to protect your privacy, we do not permit the posting of personal e-mail addresses, home addresses, or telephone numbers in posts, chat, or as usernames.

In the same light, we discourage using your real name for your nickname and we won’t allow instant messenger identification as your username.

Linking to other sites via MSWorld's website means that your private information is subject to the new site's rules and privacy policy. MSWorld® takes no responsibility for other websites’ guidelines and privacy policies.

At MSWorld®, we reserve the right to keep e-mail that you send to us and any response we send to you for follow-up on an issue or to make sure that your requests have been addressed.

Please keep your personal information updated so that you get the maximum benefit from the services that MSWorld® offers. You may e-mail MSWorld to update information relating to chat. You may update your personal information for the message board in your personal profile under User Control Panel.

If you have questions regarding our privacy policy, please e-mail us at administration@msworld.org

MSWorld® Inc. Nondiscrimination Policy

MSWorld® Inc. does not practice or condone unlawful discrimination in any form against members, volunteers and applicants on the grounds of race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability or veteran status.  

  a. Discrimination based upon race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability or veteran status is in violation of federal law and MSWorld® Inc. policy, and will not be tolerated.  

  b. Retaliation against any person complaining of discrimination is in violation of federal law and MSWorld® Inc. policy, and will not be tolerated.  

  c. MSWorld® Inc. will respond promptly to all complaints of discrimination and retaliation. Violation of this policy can result in expulsion for members or discharge for MSWorld® Inc. volunteers.  

  d. Action for violations of this policy will be the responsibility of the President or Vice-President of MSWorld® Inc., as may be appropriate in accordance with applicable procedures.  

  e. MSWorld® Inc. hereby affirms its desire to maintain an environment for all staff and members that is free from all forms of unlawful discrimination and free from discrimination which is otherwise prohibited by MSWorld® Inc. policy or regulation. Unlawful discrimination is completely incompatible with the values and goals of MSWorld® Inc., and will not be tolerated.

Changes to this policy will be posted here. No notification will be sent. It is the users responsibility to read and understand this information.